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The World Golf Championships were formed in 1999 to create a larger group of golf tournaments with a high global profile, bringing together leading golfers from different tours more regularly. Winners generally receive 70 to 78 Official World Golf Ranking points, with the most awarded for any tournament being 100 points for major championships. The WGC Championship, WGC Match Play and WGC Invitational events all began in 1999, with the WGC Champions becoming the fourth WGC tournament in 2009. The WGC Championship originally travelled to different venues, but after 2006 it found a home at Doral Resort in Florida. The WGC Match Play features a field of 64 players, filled based on the top 64 players from the Official World Golf Ranking.
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What You'll Learn
WGC Match Play
The WGC-Match Play is a World Golf Championship event that was introduced in 1999. It is the successor to the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf, which was discontinued. The WGC Match Play features a match play format, which differs from the more common stroke play format. In match play, players compete hole-by-hole, with the winner of each hole being determined by the player who takes the fewest strokes to complete it.
The WGC Match Play is a straight knockout tournament involving the top 64 players in the Official World Golf Ranking. The players are divided into 16 groups of four, and each group plays a round-robin format on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with one point awarded for a win and half a point for a tie. The player with the best record in each group advances to the knockout rounds, which are held on Saturday and Sunday. Each match is played over 18 holes, except for the final, which is played over 36 holes.
The WGC Match Play has been hosted at various locations, including California, Arizona, and Texas. It has also undergone several name changes due to sponsorship, being known as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, and WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play.
Tiger Woods is the most successful player in the WGC Match Play, having won three titles. Geoff Ogilvy is the second-most successful, with two wins and one runner-up finish.
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WGC Championship
The WGC Championship is one of the four events that make up the World Golf Championships, which were formed in 1999. The WGC Championship, along with the WGC Match Play and the WGC Invitational, began in 1999. The fourth WGC tournament, the WGC Champions, was added to the calendar in 2009.
The WGC Championship was originally hosted at various locations around the world, but from 2006 onwards, it found a permanent home at the Doral Resort in Florida, superseding the Doral Open. The tournament has had several title sponsors over the years, which have resulted in name changes. From 1999 to 2006, it was known as the WGC-American Express Championship, followed by the WGC-CA Championship from 2007 to 2010, and the WGC-Cadillac Championship from 2011 to 2016, all of which were hosted at the Doral Golf Resort in Florida. In 2017, the tournament moved to Mexico and was renamed the WGC-Mexico Championship, played at the Club de Golf Chapultepec until 2020. Due to travel restrictions in 2021, the tournament was relocated to Florida and titled the WGC-Workday Championship.
The WGC Championship is a prestigious event that attracts elite players from around the world. Winners receive a Wedgwood trophy named the Gene Sarazen Cup. Tiger Woods has the record for the most wins, with seven victories.
In 2021, it was announced that the Mexico Championship (WGC Championship) would no longer be part of the World Golf Championships. However, the tournament continues to be played, with the most recent edition in 2023 facing disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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WGC Invitational
The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament held in the United States. It was established in 1999 as the successor to the World Series of Golf, which began in 1976. From 1999 to 2018, it was hosted at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, except in 2002 when it was hosted at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. The tournament had a field of about 75 players, which is roughly half the number for a standard professional golf event.
The WGC Invitational was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021 when the number of WGC events was reduced to two. It was sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours, and the prize money was official on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour.
Invitations were issued to playing members of the last named Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup teams, players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking, and tournament winners of worldwide events since the previous year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more. From 1999 to 2001, only the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team members were eligible, and the field was about 40 players.
The tournament had different names due to sponsorship agreements:
- WGC-NEC Invitational (1999–2005)
- WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (2006–2018)
- WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (2019-)
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Tournament structure
The World Golf Championships were introduced to create a larger group of golf tournaments with a high global profile, bringing together leading golfers from different tours on a more regular basis. The WGC Championship, WGC Match Play, and WGC Invitational events all began in 1999, with the WGC Champions tournament being added to the calendar in 2009.
The WGC Championship originally travelled to different venues around the world, but after 2006 it found a home at Doral Resort in Florida. The WGC Invitational is the direct successor of the World Series of Golf, which began in 1976, and the WGC Match Play is a direct successor to the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf, which began in 1995.
From 2000 to 2006, two or three of the four events were staged in the United States, and one or two were staged elsewhere. Starting in 2007, all three individual WGC events were played in the United States, attracting criticism from some golfers and the media outside the US. This criticism was muted after the 2009 elevation of the HSBC Champions tournament in China to full WGC status, and the move of the WGC-Mexico Championship outside the US in 2017.
The WGC Match Play is a straight knockout tournament involving the top 64 players in the Official World Golf Ranking. Each match is played over 18 holes, except the final, which is played over 36 holes. The tournament has been hosted at the Austin Country Club in Texas since 2017, with Dell Technologies as its sponsor.
The World Champions Cup is a three-day team competition featuring three teams: Team International, Team Europe, and Team USA. Each team consists of six players, including the playing captain and one non-playing vice captain. The competition features 24 nine-hole matches, with mixed-team play each day. The winning team receives a purse of $1.35 million, with $100,000 per player, with $75,000 and $50,000 awarded to players on the second and third-placed teams, respectively.
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Rankings and points
Golf rankings are primarily calculated using a points-based system. The two most prominent ranking systems are the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and the FedEx Cup points system.
The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) System
The OWGR ranks male professional golfers based on their performance in eligible tournaments over a two-year rolling period. Ranking points are derived from each eligible tournament's field rating, which is determined by the number of top-ranked players competing. Major championships, such as The Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and The Open Championship, offer more ranking points due to the higher competition level.
Players earn points based on their finishing positions, with the winner of a major championship receiving 100 points. The second-place golfer gets 60 points, third place gets 40 points, and so on. Points are maintained at full value for a 13-week period and then reduced in equal decrements over the remaining 91 weeks of the ranking period. Each player is ranked according to their average points during the relevant ranking period.
The FedEx Cup Points System
The FedEx Cup is specific to the PGA Tour and focuses on performance across a season. Players accumulate points based on their finishes in PGA Tour events, with higher-profile events yielding more points. Players can also accumulate additional points through the Playoffs. At the end of the season, the player with the most points is crowned the FedEx Cup Champion.
Other Ranking Factors
While the OWGR and FedEx Cup are the most prominent ranking systems, other factors can influence rankings as well. The money list, for example, ranks golfers based on the amount of official prize money earned throughout the year, although this factor has become less important over time. Additionally, each tour around the world has its own system for ranking players, such as the European Tour and LPGA rankings, which are factored into the OWGR calculation.
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Frequently asked questions
The World Golf Championships (WGC) were introduced to create a larger group of golf tournaments with a high global profile by bringing the leading golfers from different tours together on a more regular basis, rather than just for the major championships. The WGC Championship, WGC Match Play and WGC Invitational events all began in 1999.
Golfers qualify for PGA tournaments based on several criteria, including their Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), past performance, sponsor’s exemptions, and more. Major championships, such as The Masters, have their own unique qualification criteria.
The World Champions Cup is a three-day team competition that features three teams: Team International, Team Europe and Team USA. Each team consists of six players, including the Playing Captain and one non-playing Vice Captain. The tournament features a $1.35 million purse, with $100,000 going to each player on the winning team.
